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Begin New Search Political Geography Latin America Publication Year within 5 Years

41. Latin America’s Role in De-Risking Semiconductor Supply Chains

Author:
Ryan C. Berg and Rubi Bledsoe
Publication Date:
08-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
While the semiconductor supply chain currently spans several continents, China has made efforts to develop a self-sufficient semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem through industrial policies such as “Made in China 2025,” which presents a direct strategic and economic challenge to the United States. De-risking the semiconductor supply chain, particularly that of “legacy chips,” is of paramount importance, particularly at a time in which the Trump administration considers imposing additional sectoral tariffs on semiconductors. Latin America sits at the juncture of possibility and opportunity at a critical time for the expansion of semiconductor manufacturing, providing some of the key elements and capabilities that allow for semiconductor assembly, testing, and packaging as well as final integration into electronics. For companies relying on semiconductor manufacturing, diversifying production sources is key to reducing the risks associated with supply chain disruptions and great power competition.
Topic:
Manufacturing, Strategic Competition, Supply Chains, and Semiconductors
Political Geography:
Latin America

42. Key Considerations for Future Temporary Protection and Regularization Programs in Latin America

Author:
Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora
Publication Date:
06-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Migration has become an enduring reality in Latin America, reshaping societies and challenging traditional notions of borders and belonging. Faced with large-scale displacement from Venezuela over the past decade, countries across the region—many more used to emigration than immigration—have developed novel temporary protection and regularization programs. These have complemented or been offered instead of leveraging existing migration and asylum processes to manage arrivals. The temporary and ad hoc measures that have proliferated have offered countries flexible tools to rapidly respond to migration pressures, but their temporariness has over time created uncertainty for migrants and receiving communities alike. As countries across the region begin to think through their second-generation policy approaches, it is vital for policymakers to understand the trade-offs between different design elements. This report analyzes and compares different temporary protection and regularization initiatives, drawing examples from 11 countries/regions in and beyond Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the European Union, Morocco, Peru, Spain, Turkey, and the United States). The report also offers recommendations for countries looking to move beyond temporary solutions to more durable, long-term policy frameworks, and in doing so, to avoid the pitfalls of partial immigrant integration and to more fully leverage migration’s potential benefits.
Topic:
Employment, Social Cohesion, Immigration Policy, and Temporary Protection Status (TPS)
Political Geography:
Latin America

43. Violence has gone down during Xiomara Castro’s term, but has security improved in Honduras?

Author:
Tiziano Breda
Publication Date:
11-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Abstract:
Armed violence has significantly decreased during President Xiomara Castro’s term so far, particularly in the country’s main cities that have long been plagued by gang violence. The measures adopted by the outgoing Castro administration do not fully explain the drop, which suggests it also responds to shifts in gang dynamics and tactics. Violence in rural areas, often linked to land disputes, has significantly increased in the Colón and Olancho departments. The expansion of coca crops in mostly rural departments hints at the diversification of drug trafficking groups’ activities and poses an added risk for rural security.
Topic:
Security, Domestic Politics, Violence, Rural, Organized Crime, and Gangs
Political Geography:
Latin America and Honduras

44. Brazil’s split worlds: Navigating between the Global South and the United States

Author:
Lauri Tahtinen
Publication Date:
07-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
Abstract:
Brazilian foreign policy, traditionally nonpartisan, is increasingly shaped by domestic political divides, complicating alignment with global powers. This also fuels unpredictability, especially in relation to the United States. Brazil’s political right is looking to align with Washington in a bipolar world order, while its political left still seeks multipolarity through the Global South and with the help of the Global East. If, contrary to many expectations and current Brazilian policy, the world becomes bipolar, Brazil may be forced to pick sides, challenging its tradition of balanced diplomacy. If the world appears to be heading towards multipolarity, this would fulfil a long-held Brazilian foreign policy objective. However, Brazil faces regional dynamics that, perhaps paradoxically, resemble bipolarity, as South America remains only a secondary, or even tertiary, zone for great power competition. Hosting major forums like the G20, BRICS, and COP30 puts pressure on Brazil to deliver more consistent global messaging, limiting its room for strategic flexibility.
Topic:
Global South, Multipolarity, Strategic Autonomy, Great Powers, and Middle Powers
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, Latin America, North America, and United States of America

45. Mexico Peace Index 2025

Author:
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
Publication Date:
05-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
This is the 12th edition of the Mexico Peace Index (MPI), produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP). It provides a comprehensive measure of peacefulness in Mexico, including trends, analysis, and estimates of the economic impact of violence. The MPI is based on the Global Peace Index, the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness, produced by IEP every year since 2007. The MPI consists of 12 sub-indicators aggregated into five major indicators. Mexico’s peacefulness improved by 0.7 percent in 2024. This was the fifth straight year of modest improvement, following four years of steep deteriorations. Last year, 18 states improved in their peace scores and 14 states deteriorated.
Topic:
Economy, Borders, Violence, Peace, and Organized Crime
Political Geography:
Latin America, North America, and Mexico

46. No GWOT-Narco

Author:
Daniel Depetris and Christopher McCallion
Publication Date:
07-2025
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Defense Priorities
Abstract:
The violence perpetrated by Mexico’s drug cartels, their persistent export of drugs into the United States, and the massive toll of fentanyl overdose deaths have prompted the Trump administration to present U.S. military force as a possible solution. Any U.S. military incursion into Mexico will create more problems than it solves. It will disrupt the cartels for a time but drug smuggling will continue given demand and profits. U.S. military action could also raise the risk of the cartels retaliating against Americans inside Mexico and even inside the United States. The diplomatic repercussions would be significant as well: Mexico would view U.S. military force without its consent as an act of war. Various military solutions lack promise. A counterinsurgency operation will sink U.S. troops into a long-term campaign with no concrete end date. Targeting cartel kingpins is likely to splinter the cartels into smaller groups, not eliminate them. A plan to strengthen the presence of the Mexican military inside Mexico is also unlikely to work. There is no silver bullet to stop the cartels. While the United States can take some practical measures to weaken the cartels, like stemming the flow of firearms into Mexico, it can’t achieve much more than this and shouldn’t try.
Topic:
Narcotics Trafficking, Military Intervention, Violence, and Cartels
Political Geography:
Latin America, North America, and Mexico

47. Geographical Diversification of Vaccine Production: Challenges for Africa and Latin America

Author:
William Savedoff
Publication Date:
11-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
frica and Latin America are the world regions most dependent on importing vaccines. Though they differ demographically, economically, politically, and historically, many of the issues they face when seeking to promote vaccine production are similar. In this regard, they have much to learn from each other in terms of options and strategies. After characterizing the relevant differences and similarities between the two regions, this paper argues that negotiating and implementing regional agreements is the most reliable way for each region to promote vaccine production compared to alternatives. It describes some of the more prominent regional vaccine initiatives that are underway and outlines options for governing such arrangements based on regional experiences inside and outside health. The paper argues that the most significant obstacle to promoting vaccine production is effective demand because most countries are too small on their own to support the scale required to motivate and sustain production. In addition, the prospects for regional or subregional agreements to assure producers that there will be sustained demand for their vaccines are unlikely due to the difficulties of establishing binding international pacts to pool purchasing in sufficient volumes. A second critical obstacle is an adequate number of individuals with the requisite skills for biomedical research, development, and manufacturing. Finally, without a high-quality and efficient regulatory systems, it is difficult for countries to assure vaccine quality, let alone attract private investors. The paper concludes by reviewing some common strategies for promoting vaccine production, including actions on the demand side, supply interventions, and institutional factors. It considers the advantages of regional agreements and discusses characteristics for such agreements that are important to their success.
Topic:
Diversification, Public Health, Vaccine, and Imports
Political Geography:
Africa and Latin America

48. Curbing Violence in Latin America’s Drug Trafficking Hotspots

Author:
International Crisis Group
Publication Date:
03-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
What’s new? Violence stemming from the drug trade plagues Latin America, despite decades of law enforcement campaigns involving police and the military. Criminal groups have risen in number, spread to previously unaffected countries and diversified their rackets. Competition among these groups for drug profits drives much of the violence afflicting these societies. Why does it matter? The U.S. is again demanding military-led offensives against criminal groups in the region, yet evidence from past crackdowns suggests that they have served to reconfigure supply routes, spur more complex criminal networks, accelerate efforts to corrupt state officials and generate spikes of violence that harm the most vulnerable. What should be done? Latin America should learn from its successes and failures. Better policing, economic alternatives to crime, restrictions on gun flows and, under specific conditions, negotiations with illegal groups should all play a role. Foreign states should recognise that it is counterproductive to demand tougher controls when they worsen violence.
Topic:
War on Drugs, Social Policy, Violence, Police, and Drug Trafficking
Political Geography:
Colombia, Latin America, Honduras, Guatemala, and Ecuador

49. My Ambassador Was a Spy for Cuba

Author:
Melissa Clegg-Tripp
Publication Date:
08-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In 2001, I was on my third tour in the Foreign Service, excited to be serving for the first time as the “Information Officer” as it was then termed in La Paz, Bolivia. (The job title sounded fancier when translated into Spanish; I was the “Agregada de Prensa.”) Counternarcotics dominated the bilateral agenda because Bolivia, then the poorest country in Latin America, was a major producer of coca leaves, raw material for cocaine. The drug was trafficked to the United States and Europe and fueled addiction and violent crime. A big part of my job was to work with the Bolivian media to showcase US-Bolivian cooperation in eradicating coca and to profile the success of the “alternative development” programs the United States was funding. Those programs included health and educational assistance as well as support to farmers who elected to grow legal trade crops such as bananas and pineapples. It was a bit of a hard sell in that Bolivia, like other Andean countries, had a tradition of using coca leaves for medicinal, spiritual, and social purposes. Coca, a mild stimulant, also has nutritional value, helps with high altitude headaches, and is consumed either by way of chewing or by being made into a tea. Many Bolivians did not like the demonization of the leaf. Also, frankly, it was harder to grow bananas and pineapples. They took a long time to mature; they were susceptible to disease; they had to be carefully transported on bad roads to foreign markets. Furthermore, not many Bolivians seemed to be addicted to cocaine, and there was a sentiment out there that Bolivia produced cocaine only because “North Americans” wanted it, and the social ills accompanying the drug were really our problem, not theirs.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Memoir, Drugs, and Espionage
Political Geography:
Cuba, Latin America, and Bolivia

50. The Hegemonic Transition in Latin America: To What Extent is China Challenging US’s Hegemony?

Author:
Andoni Maiza-Larrarte and Ricardo Bustillo-Mesanza
Publication Date:
07-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
In this paper, we examine the geopolitical consequences of China’s enhanced engagement in Latin America. China is increasing its economic weight among Latin American countries, reinforcing its external image to counter the perception that the US is a unique relevant ally. In previous research, some authors have supported the idea that China could become a sort of neocolonial power in Latin America, substituting the hegemony of the United States. In this article, we carry out an in-depth review of Western literature and a comprehensive analysis of the bilateral relationship to discuss China’s role in the region. We apply the principles of the hegemonic stability and the power transition theories, and we also include an assessment of “soft power” components. We conclude that China is eroding US power in Latin America but is still far from becoming the new regional hegemon.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Hegemony, Transition, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:
China, Asia, Latin America, and United States of America

51. Informe Iberoamérica 2025: IV Cumbre UE-CELAC en Colombia: retos y promesas

Author:
Maria Victoria Alvarez, Bruno Theodoro Luciano, César Niño, Vicente Palacio, and Lennys Rivera
Publication Date:
04-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:
La IVª cumbre Unión Europea-CELAC, que tendrá lugar en Santa Marta (Colombia), los días 9 y 10 de noviembre de 2025, dará continuidad al diálogo político de alto nivel que se recuperó con motivo de la IIIª cumbre celebrada en 2023, y que dejó atrás unas relaciones interregionales paralizadas en esta escala durante más de un lustro. Transcurridos poco más de dos años, la cumbre de 2025 se producirá tras un intenso ciclo electoral tanto en América Latina como en la UE, y tras profundos cambios en el orden internacional que abren interrogantes en torno a las implicaciones que tendrá para las propias relaciones euro-latinoamericanas y caribeñas. Para alimentar los debates previos a este encuentro entre sesenta mandatarios de ambas orillas del Atlántico, el Informe Iberoamérica 2025 de Fundación Alternativas aborda, a lo largo de sus siete capítulos, distintos ángulos (medio ambiente, seguridad, inversión, comercio, cooperación, diálogo político) de una relación birregional de carácter estratégico llamada a relanzarse.
Topic:
Climate Change, Elections, European Union, and Political Science
Political Geography:
Colombia, Latin America, and Spain

52. Upwelling: Fishers Organizing for their Rights and Sustainable Fisheries

Author:
Judy Gearhart and Connor Moynihan
Publication Date:
05-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
Abstract:
Fishers face increased risks to their lives and livelihoods. Climate change and overfishing are sending fishers out to sea for longer periods of time or at distances beyond the capacity of their vessels. In response, fishers are pursuing new strategies to organize, build power, and defend their rights. This paper presents lessons from fisher organizing in diverse sectors. It aligns with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 188 (C 188) on Work in Fishing, which defines fishers as all those working in marine capture, from artisanal fisherfolk to workers on the distant water fleet (DWF). The research reviews organizing trends in six countries and identifies common challenges and factors contributing to fisher organizing. In all six countries—Ecuador, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, Taiwan, and Thailand—new organizing initiatives have recently emerged. This research considers a range of dynamics that affect fisher organizing and their ability to access information, seek remedy, and influence policy outcomes. It provides insights from interviews with organizers and other fishery experts. The findings highlight areas where more work and strategizing are needed to build stronger and more influential fisher organizations.
Topic:
Climate Change, Sustainability, Labor Rights, and Fisheries
Political Geography:
Africa, Indonesia, Taiwan, Asia, Latin America, Mexico, Thailand, Ghana, and Ecuador

53. Ten Dimensions of Network Strengthening: Lessons from Health Rights Advocates in Guatemala, Mexico, and the Philippines

Author:
Julia Fischer-Mackey, Joy Aceron, Hilda Argüello Avendaño, Benilda Batzín, Francisco Gómez Guillén, and Rosaura Medina
Publication Date:
10-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
Abstract:
Maintaining and strengthening networks of volunteers is central to the health rights advocacy work of four civil society organizations (CSOs) in Guatemala, Mexico, and the Philippines who have worked through networks to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent healthcare (RMNCAH) services for marginalized communities. Their experience shows that networks of volunteers that represent marginalized populations and have the skills to engage with public authorities at different levels of government can confront the political and policy issues necessary to improve RMNCAH care. This Accountability Note captures the reflections of these CSOs on ten dimensions of network strengthening that they consider critical to their efforts to strengthen volunteer networks.
Topic:
Civil Society, Advocacy, Public Health, Marginalization, and Volunteers
Political Geography:
Asia, Philippines, Latin America, Mexico, and Guatemala

54. Mexico: A Pivotal State on the Global Stage

Author:
Ryan C. Berg, Rubi Biedsoe, and Michael Ferguson
Publication Date:
12-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
In his 1867 Manifesto to the Nation, Benito Juárez famously stated: “Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.”1 Spoken by Mexico’s first indigenous president, Juárez’s quote demonstrates Mexico’s view of the global order—that countries should promote national sovereignty, security, and prosperity through collaboration and dialogue rather than through intervention. Mexico effectively operates with one foot in the door of the Global North, via its position in North America, and one foot in the door of the Global South, as one of the leading economies and cultural powerhouses of Latin America. This hybrid role, characterized by some as a “pivotal state,” has created both opportunities for leverage and areas of tension with other countries, particularly with regards to its close but complicated relationship with its northern neighbor.2 A key player and beneficiary of a global economy underpinned by a U.S.-led order, Mexico has found itself in a state of “autonomy within limits,” by which U.S. interests oftentimes circumscribe Mexico’s range of potential actions.3 Being the United States’ southern neighbor both grants Mexico unmatched economic benefits and presents it with a delicate balancing act: In pursuing autonomy within limits, Mexico must maximize its benefits from the Western-led order while asserting its sovereignty and reducing its dependence on the order’s biggest players, especially the United States. This tension influences Mexico’s policy positions as its presidents balance nationalistic rhetoric at home and trying to assuage U.S. concerns. Mexico’s balancing act also exacerbates divisions between the country’s pro–Global North elites and its disadvantaged populations who have not received the benefits of global economic integration, which has led to the success of the social welfare and populist-oriented Morena party. Mexico’s effort to maintain relations with its neighbor to the north consumes most of its foreign policy energy. But Mexico’s foreign policy DNA, often described as noninterventionism or the Estrada Doctrine (after Foreign Affairs Minister Genaro Estrada), can sometimes undercut its desire to play a leadership role on the global stage. Mexico firmly believes that nonintervention in the internal affairs of other countries can earn it a seat at the tables that matter, allowing it to negotiate or mediate conflicts. In practice, however, Mexico has demonstrated little global leadership of late, preferring to stay on the sidelines (and under President Lopez Obrador, to focus on his project of domestic transformation). Mexico’s ultimate goal is to exert full sovereignty over its domestic affairs; it has also used its political capital on the global stage to openly criticize the role of U.S. sanctions and containment policies against Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela for contributing the region’s security and migration crises. Further, Mexico does not see the world through the West’s post–Cold War lens, but rather as a group of politically equal states. China and Russia are treated as normal states in the international system the same way Algeria, Ethiopia, or Thailand might be.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Geopolitics, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:
Latin America, North America, and Mexico

55. Academic Year 2025–26 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment

Author:
US Army War College
Publication Date:
07-2025
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
Maintaining strategic advantage demands professional discourse from across the force. The Academic Year 2025–26 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment provides a framework for those aspiring to tackle the Department of Defense’s most pressing challenges. This year’s authors highlight trending challenges and identify potential tension points across 15 sections organized into four enduring themes. This survey of regional, domestic, and institutional challenges represents the collective expertise of the US Army War College. The narrative is supplemented by a tailored list of 100 command-sponsored questions from 43 different Army and Joint organizations from across the Department of Defense. Combined, the distinct yet complementary narrative and question list offer unique insights into the vital matters impacting defense organizations and provide aspiring researchers with a necessary starting point.
Topic:
NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Natural Resources, Budget, Deterrence, Artificial Intelligence, Xi Jinping, Strategic Competition, Defense Spending, People's Liberation Army (PLA), and Strategic Security
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, Eurasia, Ukraine, Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Indo-Pacific

56. Faith and gender: Evidence-building for GBV prevention in Africa and Latin America. SVRI Community of Practice – Working Group 1 on Evidence-Building

Author:
Rafael Cazarin and Sinethemba Makanya
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)
Abstract:
The Working Group 1 on Evidence-Building was initially created in October 2024 by an executive research team: Rafael Cazarin, Sinethemba Makanya, Nobantu Shabangu and Leonardo Andrade. Led by the intention to build a Community of Practise that would speak back to the ideals of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, the CoP was informed by the main goal to connect practise-based narrative evidence from experts to inform policies on gender-based violence (GBV) prevention with faith actors and religious communities in the Global South. In the months following the CoP inception about 150 members joined the Working Group 1 CoP on LinkedIn. Members from various organisations contributed to building empirical evidence for GBV prevention in faith and religion contexts through a series of monthly online activities, including roundtable discussions, focus groups, a virtual learning webinar and a special blog series for the SVRI blog page. This report presents key findings from five focus groups with members of Working Group 1 (WG1), focused on gender-based violence (GBV) prevention in faith-based and religious settings. The discussions pursued two main goals: first, to identify region-specific challenges and methodological gaps across the Global South, while also highlighting opportunities and sustainable practises at the intersection of faith and GBV prevention; and second, to explore critical themes—such as SOGIESC, youth and masculinities, and local cultural and religious dynamics—to support the development of more inclusive and context-sensitive policies and practises.
Topic:
Religion, Gender Based Violence, Sexual Violence, Faith, and Violence Prevention
Political Geography:
Africa and Latin America

57. Governance Compared: Autocracy and Democracy in Latin America

Author:
Sarah Yerkes, Natalie Triche, and Amr Hamzawy
Publication Date:
11-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The past several years have witnessed a dramatic democratic decline around the world. In both established democracies and hybrid regimes, anti-democratic and populist forces have challenged the notion that democracies are better for their citizens.1 Leaving aside values-driven arguments, authoritarian and populist leaders have touted the narrative that they are better at delivering to their citizens’ needs than democratic leaders. They then use such arguments to justify rolling back the rule of law and eroding checks and balances where they exist, while preventing either from taking root where they are not already present.2 While this narrative may hold weight with some citizens, its legitimacy has not been tested.3 That is, we do not know who is better at governing—autocrats or democrats. Repression and chilling environments for free expression, often found in autocracies, contribute to a lack of critical appraisals of governance deliverables. Thus, comparisons with democratic societies that permit vocal disdain for governance performance can be difficult.4 Additionally, lack of free access to information and limited pluralist deliberations about government policy enable autocracies to mystify their governance performance and hide their failings, thus manipulating the constrained political discussions that do occur among citizens.5 To critically evaluate claims that autocratic states are better at governance than democratic states, especially in the Global South, we designed a project comparing governance outputs in four regions of the world: the Middle East and North Africa; eastern, western, and southern Africa; Southeast Asia; and Latin America. To examine the diversity of governance models and the variance in performance across these regions, we focus on four country case studies from each region. The cases represent both democratic and authoritarian governments, and vary in terms of governance performance—ranging from high to low—in economic, social, and political outputs. In this article, we evaluate the Latin American cases—Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, and Uruguay—to test whether autocracies or democracies in the region are better at delivering on governance for their citizens. Ultimately, we argue that democracies in Latin America outperform autocracies on governance metrics. To assess how well countries in the Global South are delivering on governance outcomes, we defined four categories of governance indicators. The first includes socioeconomic indicators such as employment, poverty, income disparities, and access to services such as education, healthcare, and subsidies. An important aspect of this type of indicator is exclusion, meaning how access to services is distributed by gender, political group, social group, urban-rural location, and socioeconomic position. A second category describes another important aspect of governance: access to information. This includes variables such as transparency, academic freedom, arrests for free speech and political content, social media use by the public and elites, government internet filtering capacity and practice, government capacity to regulate online content, and government involvement in the dissemination of false information. A third category covers traditional political indicators including rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances, and control of corruption. This also includes political equality measures like educational equality, health equality, and power distribution by gender, sexual orientation, social group, and socioeconomic position. The fourth category encompasses one of the more intangible aspects of governance—civil liberties, including access to justice, equality before the law, freedom of expression and association, freedom of domestic movement, freedom of foreign movement, freedom of religion, and property rights. In Latin America, we selected two more democratic governments that differ significantly in governance outcomes: Uruguay, which demonstrates high performance, and Colombia, which continues to face economic and social shortcomings and is confronted with political challenges that threaten social cohesion and democratic stability. We also selected two more autocratic governments: Bolivia, which exhibits relatively coherent economic and social performance (when compared to other authoritarian countries in the region), and Cuba, where governance crises are persistent and unresolved. In all four governance categories discussed in this article, both democracies project stronger performance than both autocracies. Importantly, many countries do not neatly fall into one regime type category. Rather, some of our cases (most notably Bolivia in the Latin American context) represent a hybrid model between democracy and autocracy. The 2025 elections in Bolivia are one example. The Movement for Socialism (MAS) candidate—whose party had held power in Bolivia for nearly twenty years—did not advance to the second round of the presidential elections, and the party lost almost all its seats in the legislature, but MAS made clear that it would accept the final election results. These four cases (Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, and Uruguay) were selected for their individual characteristics as well as their applicability to the wider region. In addition to their different regime types and governance outcomes, we selected the cases to ensure variety. The cases span the region, with a Caribbean case (Cuba) and northern (Colombia), central (Bolivia), and southern (Uruguay) South American cases. They represent large and small countries, in both population and land mass. They include some of the wealthiest (Uruguay) and poorest (Bolivia) in the region. They represent countries that have been ravaged by civil conflict and weak institution-building processes, and those that have experienced a more peaceful history and built strong institutions. Furthermore, they are countries that are underrepresented in the literature.
Topic:
Governance, Reform, Democracy, Domestic Politics, Autocracy, and Democratic Backsliding
Political Geography:
Colombia, Uruguay, Cuba, Latin America, and Bolivia

58. The Militarization of Commercial Activity in Mexico

Author:
Irene Wang
Publication Date:
08-2025
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
After building the Tren Maya, Mexico’s military has expanded its commercial reach in the Yucatán, with no regard for transparency or accountability.
Topic:
Accountability, Transparency, Militarization, and Commercialization
Political Geography:
Latin America and Mexico

59. Panama’s President Cracks Down on Unions

Author:
Corey Kane
Publication Date:
09-2025
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
Amidst protests, President José Raúl Mulino holds firm to social security reform while suspending habeas corpus and attacking unions and striking workers.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Reform, Unions, and Social Security
Political Geography:
Latin America and Panama

60. Haiti’s Political Impasse

Author:
Greg Beckett
Publication Date:
06-2025
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
Haiti’s current form of “checkpoint governance” represents a structural transformation in how politics works in the country.
Topic:
Security, Politics, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America, Caribbean, and Haiti